Bassist Dan Lilker revealed in a recent interview on the That Metal Interview that the shows marking his return to Anthrax after 40 years were "stunning" and "a lot of fun." Lilker rejoined the thrash metal band in March to temporarily replace Frank Bello , who was absent during the last tour.
The concert series also included a stop in Brazil, with a single performance during Bangers Open Air, formerly known as Summer Breeze, which took place in April in São Paulo.
“All those shows were incredible. I mean, I’ve played a lot there. I went to some places I’d never been before, like Costa Rica, Ecuador, and El Salvador. But good old Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, I knew they were going to be amazing because I’ve played there several times with other bands. And yeah, I think everything was great. It was a lot of fun. And I think people liked it, man. It’s all over YouTube,” Lilker said.
The musician says he learned about the return about five weeks beforehand, and therefore had plenty of time to practice at home. However, he reveals that only one rehearsal was held before the show in Mexico, the first of the tour.
“Even the other guys needed to rehearse, because they hadn’t done anything since they played at the Milwaukee Metal Fest the previous summer or something like that. They spent about ten months doing nothing, so even if Frank had done the shows, they would have rehearsed anyway,” he said.
Dan also acknowledged the differences between his style and Bello's. He says he finds Bello's bass tone aggressive, unlike his own sound, which is a bit more distorted, due to having played grindcore, black, and death metal for a long time. Despite this, he says the biggest challenge was doing the backing vocals while playing bass.
“Sometimes the phrasing was a little different. Like, singing 'What is it? Caught in a mosh' while playing the riff underneath, it kind of alternates weirdly. So I had to slow the whole thing down in my brain and say, 'Okay, you have to tap your foot here or say this on that note.' And that's just because in most bands I've been in, if I'm doing backing vocals, I'm usually just yelling or screaming some words. It was more of a musical phrasing thing, where what you're saying and what you're playing are different enough that it can complicate things a little bit.”
READ ALSO: Anthrax's "Madhouse" is mentioned in Stephen King's new book.